


Infinity Gem Guardian, Peter Quill

by SilverHyena



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: But it's actually written seriously, F/F, F/M, High School AU, High School Cliches, I can't write anything normal, I'm Bad At Titles, M/M, Magical Boy AU, More tags to be added, Multi, Pre-Serum Steve Rogers, Probably some darker themes, and Post-Serum Steve Rogers, because MAGIC, crack concept, soap opera levels of drama, temporary relationships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-30
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-02-28 16:26:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,156
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23400118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SilverHyena/pseuds/SilverHyena
Summary: Settling into a new high school is tough enough, but life throws Peter Quill another curve ball in the form of a magical talking raccoon named Rocket.  Now he has to find and team up with the other individuals chosen by the infinity stones to combat an out of this world threat.  Is it possible to balance saving the world, school, and a social life?  Probably not, but that isn't going to keep Quill from trying.a.k.a. the highschool x magical boy AU that nobody asked for
Relationships: Peter Quill & Meredith Quill, Peter Quill & Rocket Raccoon, Romantic Relationships to be decided
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is what happens when I set out to write a Highschool AU and can't figure out what to do with Rocket. Bam! Magical Animal Companion! Now it's a magical boy AU too!
> 
> Anyway, a few notes before we begin:
> 
> 1.) I haven't decided the relationships for this story. If there's one you want to see, let me know. I might (probably will) make it happen. On that note, any suggestions on tropes you'd like to see would be helpful too. (I want this story to be a giant mess of drama)
> 
> 2.) I'm calling them infinity gems instead of stones because that's what they're called in the comic (at least, at some point) and, let's face it, that's the kind of thing that screams magical girl/boy AU.
> 
> 3.) I, uh, don't actually know much about music, but I wanted to try and incorporate it a bit more in this story. So Quill and his mom are just into everything. (They have to settle for songs and references I actually know.)
> 
> 4.) If I accidentally refer to Peter as Quill, it's because I'm used to calling him Quill in all my other stories. I switched it up for this story because Meredith is around and I figured that'd mean Peter was the name he was more used to. (Which is going to cause all sorts of issues if/when Peter Parker shows up. :P) Anyway, just forgive me and move on.
> 
> And that's it! Thank you for checking this story out! Enjoy.

Peter stared at himself in the mirror and took a deep breath. It had only just now occurred to him that he had no idea what to wear to a public high school. The private schools he'd gone to for the majority of his life had always had a strict uniform. Marvel High, on the other hand, had a jumbled mess of guidelines that basically amounted to: wear it and we'll tell you if it's actually appropriate or not. In any case, Peter wasn't exactly worried about what the school would think. It was the theoretical opinions of his fellow classmates that were giving him a mild panic attack at the moment.

Peter had gone with a flannel shirt over a plain white t-shirt and a set of jeans. He'd thought it was a decent combination when he first looked at it, but now he was convinced it was too farm boy. The last thing he wanted to do was come off as a country hick. He could ditch the flannel shirt. Just the t-shirt and jeans would be boring though. Ugh. Why was this so hard? And why did he have to care so much? Did it really matter? He clapped his hands on his cheeks and refocused. If the movies he'd seen were anything to go by, this was the most pivotal decision in his sixteen years of life so far. He had to take it seriously.

"Knock, knock," Meredith said, leaning against the door frame with a radiant smile on her face. His mother was really pretty when she smiled like that. Peter's dad was an idiot and an asshole for messing things up with her. "How is the outfit selection going?"

"Not great," Peter admitted, "what do normal teens even wear?"

"Oh, mostly things they'll look back on and regret in ten years or so. I wouldn't overthink it," she said, stepping over to Peter and straightening his shirt collar. "Especially since you happen to look handsome in anything you wear."

"Moms are required by law to say that."

"That doesn't mean I can't mean it."

Peter sighed. "I just... want to make a good first impression."

"Hm. Well, you know what I think about that?" Meredith asked with a grin. She was definitely going to start singing something. Sure enough, when she opened her mouth, the lyrics to Bob Marley's Three Little Birds came out. "Don't worry, about a thing," Meredith sang, raising her eyebrows in a way that practically begged Peter to join in, "'cause every little thing..." She pointed Peter's way.

"Gonna be alright," Peter sang back.

"Singing don't worry," they both belted out together. Meredith started swaying along as they continued with the song. While Peter couldn't help but feel he was too old for this kind of thing, he still ended up joining her when they reached the next verse. Their dancing got more involved as their singing did and pretty soon they were flailing around like a pair of rabid chimpanzees.

"Oh shit! Is that the time?" Meredith asked, coming to an abrupt stop as her gaze fixated on Peter's alarm clock. "I hope you're happy with that outfit because we need to go NOW."

Peter went for his backpack while Meredith ran to get her keys. Once they piled into the car, Meredith hit the gas. They might have made it on time if Meredith hadn't gotten pulled over for making a California stop. Luckily, Meredith's pleasant nature won the cop over and they got off with a warning. Unluckily, they were still running a bit late. So, once they pulled up to the School's drop off area, Peter gave his mom a quick peck on the cheek-- so what if it wasn't cool? His mom was the best-- and bolted towards the School's front entrance.

"Slow it down," a firm voice said as Peter burst through the school's front doors. The man the voice belonged to was practically a giant and, even with a track suit covering his entire body, Peter could tell he was all muscle. His face didn't do anything to lessen his intimidating presence either. He had a very prominent chin, narrow eyes, and a bald head.

"I know. I'm sorry. I just..." Peter sputtered, lifting up his class schedule as he tried to remember what words were. "Class. Late."

"Relax. It's the first day. It's bound to take people an extra minute to find their classes," the man said, "what room number are you looking for?"  
Peter double checked his schedule. "204."

"Up those stairs over there. It'll be the second classroom to your right."

"Oh. Thanks, um..."

"Coach Thanos. Maybe I'll see you in gym class. Anyway, you'd best be off. Have a good first day, alright?"

Peter nodded and then headed up the staircase Thanos had pointed out. Sure enough, it only took him a few seconds to find his class once he'd reached the top. Quill walked in and took the first available seat he saw.

"Alright. I think we've given everyone more than enough time to get here," the woman at the head of the class started after taking a look at the clock. She had long brown hair that fell down across her shoulders and a pair of glasses with large frames. They wouldn't have worked on most people, but she pulled them off adorably. She was definitely the kind of teacher that most hormonal teenage boys would drool over. "Let's get started, shall we?"

She moved over to the whiteboard and wrote out her name before turning back towards the class and officially introducing herself. "As you might have guessed from what I just wrote on the board, my name is May Parker. You can call me Mrs. Parker. I'll be covering chemistry this year. Now, I know you all just got settled in, but I'm afraid it's time for the dreaded seating arrangement." A few grumbles came from students that had managed to sit near their friends. "I know, I know, but starting you all off in alphabetical order makes it much easier for me to learn your names. And hey, it won't kill you to meet someone new, right?"

Peter went ahead and zoned out for a minute. Since his last name started with Q, it'd be awhile before he was called. It gave him a chance to scope out the classroom. It felt less stuffy than the classrooms at his old school. That might have been the people more than the furniture though. Not having a strict uniform allowed for splashes of all sorts of colors. "Ah, a Peter. That should be easy to remember. My nephew is a Peter," May commented as she went down her list. "Peter Quill, you're over here. And next to you, we have Stephen Strange."

Stephen turned out to be a boy with short brown hair and a no nonsense aura to him. Honestly, Peter wasn't sure they were going to be able to get along. He wouldn't know until he tried though, right? "So..." Peter started, turning towards Stephen once May had moved on, "looks like we're going to be neighbors for a bit. I'm Peter Quill."

"The teacher said as much," Stephen replied in an indifferent tone.

"Well, yeah," Peter said a bit sheepishly, "but I figured I should introduce myself anyway, you know?"

Stephen sighed. "Stephen Strange. Nice to meet you."

It wasn't the most social of greetings, but Stephen had humored him. That was all the encouragement Peter needed. "Same. It's actually my first year at this school so you're the first person my age that I've officially met here."

"It's... actually my first year here too," Stephen admitted.

"Seriously? This is basically destiny then!"

Stephen frowned. "I wouldn't call it that."

"Hey, so why did you end up switching schools? My parents got divorced. That's the short version of why I'm here."

Stephen tucked his hands under the table. It wasn't a motion that should have come off as out of the ordinary, but for some reason Peter got the sense that it was something Stephen had done in response to his question. Was there something wrong with his hands?

Peter was about to prod Stephen for details when May restarted the class. Well, it probably would have been an insensitive question anyway. Stephen could tell him about it once they were friends-- something that Peter had already decided they were going to be. It was just going to take a little bit of work.

\-----------------------------

Nothing of note happened in math class. At least, not during the parts Peter had been awake for. He'd nodded off when they were going over the syllabus and didn't wake up until the lunch bell rang. After taking a quick look around to make sure nobody had noticed, Peter packed up his things and headed towards the cafeteria. 

By the time Peter got his food, everyone seemed to have settled into their own social groups. Unfortunately, Peter didn't have the nerve to ask to join any of them. He'd been hoping he could sit with Stephen, but Peter hadn't been able to find him. Thus, he had to settle for a lonely spot at one of the tables in the middle of the cafeteria. Well, he'd expected this sort of thing. Until he could make a few friends, he could pass the time by listening to his music.

Peter opened up his backpack and rummaged around until he realized that he didn't actually have his mp3 player with him. In the rush this morning, he'd accidentally left it on his dresser. He let out a groan and started picking at his lunch. So much for that. Lunch was going to end up being pretty boring. Unless... Peter pulled out his phone. Tony was probably having his lunch break right about now too, right? Eh, even if he wasn't, Tony wouldn't really care. He'd text through class regardless. The teachers wouldn't say anything either. His parents had so much wealth that most of them were afraid to tell him off. Tony abused that fear too. Honestly, he was a bit of nightmare. But that nightmare had been Peter's best friend since childhood. Peter typed out his first message and hit send.

Peter: Miss you.

Tony's response was instantaneous.

Tony: Then maybe you shouldn't have left me, dork.

Peter: That would have meant living with dad, so no.

Tony: I thought our love was stronger than that.

Peter: I'd do anything for love (but I won't do that)

Tony: Ha-ha. Very funny.

Tony: You're lucky everyone else around here is boring or I'd dump your ass.

Peter smiled to himself as a couple of students approached his table. He looked up from his phone for a second to see that one of them was a boy with a muscular physique and the other one was beautiful girl with an athletic build. Peter was definitely a little taken with the girl. No way someone like her would approach him just because. "I'm in your spot, aren't I?" Peter asked with a frown.

"Kind of," the girl said, "it's not like we actually own it though."

"We were thinking we could all sit together if you don't mind," the boy said.

"Not at all. I'd actually like the company," Peter said quickly. He looked down at his phone and texted Tony a quick goodbye before giving the newcomers his full attention. "I'm Peter Quill, by the way."

"I'm Drax," the boy said taking a seat across from him. 

The girl took the seat next to him and then introduced herself. "Gamora."

"You're new, right?" Drax asked.

"That obvious, huh?" Peter replied sheepishly.

"Yes," Gamora said bluntly.

"I can give you the run down on all of this school's key players if you'd like," Drax said, "it might help you navigate your first year here."

"Sure. That'd be great," Peter said. He was pretty curious.

"Then let's start with Gamora here," Drax said, clapping her on the back. She let out an annoyed grumble, but didn't stop him. "She's the star of our track team. No one comes close to competing with her. You'd think that would make her popular, right? Well, she is and she isn't. She's got a bit of a reputation as an ice queen since she turns down everyone who asks her out."

"I don't have time to date someone," Gamora said in an annoyed tone, "I don't see why that makes me a bitch."

That's not what Drax had said. It probably was something she was used to hearing though.

"It's not like her dad would actually let her date someone anyway," Drax continued, "he's one of the gym teachers here and he gets mad if Gamora focuses on anything but track team and her grades."

"Wait. Is her dad Thanos?" Peter asked.

"That's right. Worst dad ever," Gamora commented.

That couldn't be true since Peter was pretty sure that his dad was the worst dad ever. "Honestly, he seemed kind of alright to me when I met him earlier."

"Until you get between him and his favorite daughter," Drax pointed out, "he's not nearly as strict with Gamora's siblings. They're--"

"Not so fast. You don't get to get out of telling him about yourself," Gamora said, looking at Drax.

"I bet Drax is an amazing athlete too with a physique like that," Peter guessed.

"Well, he is an amazing athlete, but he isn't on any of the sports teams," Gamora said, "his true love is the saxophone."

"Yeah?" Peter asked excitedly.

"Yup," Drax said.

"I'd love to hear you play sometime. Maybe we could even play together."

"You play an instrument?"

"A bit of piano and the guitar."

"Then we totally should."

"You're getting off topic, Drax," Gamora said with an amused smile.

"Right. Sorry. We'll circle back to this conversation later," Drax said. Peter was honestly glad that he seemed as enthusiastic about the possibility of playing together as he did. "For now, let's continue with... that group of girls over there. The one at the end of the table in green is Hela."

"She's the alpha bitch," Gamora interjected coldly.

"Are you taking this one then?" Drax asked with a frown.

"Sure," Gamora said carelessly, "so, you have your alpha bitch, Hela. Her bff, Ayesha, the blond wearing way too much gold, Ava, the girl in the white top-- who isn't actually that bad when she's not around the other three-- and Nebula, the worst of them all."

"What makes her so bad?" Peter asked.

"She's the most vindictive, volatile--"

"She's Gamora's adopted sister. They don't get along," Drax intervened, "anyway, the four of them are this school's popular girls if we're going with cliche high school tropes. They're also all cheerleaders."

"Nebula hates it though. She only goes along with it because she's afraid they'll kick her out of their exclusive little club if she isn't part of the team."

"Hela and Ayesha are dating a couple members of the football team. Ava was too, but she broke up with Thor at the end of last year."

"I dumped her actually," a muscular blond guy said as he came up to their table. He was seriously attractive. Like, movie star attractive. Peter couldn't decide if he was envious of him or a little into him. He buried that last thought immediately. He wasn't gay or bisexual or whatever. It had to be envy.

"No, you didn't," Drax said bluntly, "you moped around for weeks after--"

"Anyway," Thor talked over Drax, "some of the guys and I were planning to hit up the diner after school. We were wondering if you wanted to come. Gamora and your other friend are invited, of course."

"Pass," Gamora said, blowing some hair out of her face.

"I'll go," Drax said, "it'll be good to find out what everyone was up to over summer break."

"Great," Thor grinned, "and, um..." He looked at Peter for a minute and admitted, "I'm sorry. I really don't know your name."

"Yeah, well, it's my first day so I'd be kind of concerned if you did," Peter said, "my name is Peter Quill."

"Quill then. Got it." Had this guy just given him a nickname? Assuming last names counted as nicknames. Either way, Peter was surprisingly okay with it. He kind of liked it, actually. "I'm Thor Odinson. It's a pleasure to meet you. Anyway, since you're new, you really should consider coming. I can give you a ride if you need one."

"That's really nice of you, but I can't. Not today," Peter replied. His cheeks were kind of hot. Was he blushing? God, he hoped not. "I've got a few things I have to take care of."

"Next time then."

"Yeah, sure."

Thor pat Peter on the shoulder and then moved on to join a table with what Peter assumed were the rest of the football players. And a skinny blond boy who had his nose in a sketchbook. Peter wondered what the story there was.

"Steve Rogers," Drax said, noting where Peter was looking, "he's always been kind of sickly. The guy next to him, Bucky, is his best friend. Bucky is the one dating Hela, by the way. Anyway, Bucky is always keeping an eye out for him. Across from him is T'Challa. He's an actual prince."

"You're pulling my leg. No way a prince would go to a public school."

"I'm not kidding. He was sent overseas to learn about the world outside of Wakanda. Apparently, his parents thought a public school would be the best way for him to get the full experience."

"That's pretty crazy."

"It is. Next to T'Challa is Clint. He's the one who's dating Ayesha. He tends to be a bit sarcastic, but he's cool. The girl is Brunnhilde. And, yes, she's on the team too. There was a bunch of drama about it last year. She's one of our best players though. The last one worth noting is Ronan. He's Gamora's adopted brother and, honestly, he can be a bit of a bully. You should avoid being alone with him."

"Right. Will do."

"Over at that table are your nerds. The guy messing with that gadget thing is Sam Wilson. And, across from him in the glasses is Bruce Banner. He's the smartest kid at our school." Peter wondered how he'd fare against Tony. "The girl with him is Jane Foster. They aren't dating, but there's so much sexual tension between them that me and Gamora believe that it's only a matter of time."

"The two of them are so obvious that it's painful," Gamora sighed.

"Then we have the drama kids. The redhead is Natasha. She's popular, but she isn't part of Hela's gang. She's far too nice for something like that. The boy next to her is Quentin Beck. He mostly works behind the scenes. Our school plays have really benefited from his special effects. The other one there is Loki. He's Thor's adopted brother. Oh, and I forgot to mention it earlier, but Hela is Thor's half sister." Loki looked a lot more like Hela than Thor did. Well, genetics were weird sometimes. "Then there are your outsiders. The two sitting together are the Maximoff twins, Wanda and Pietro. The guy with them is Vision."

"His name is really Vision?" There were definitely kids in this school with weird names in this school, but that one seemed even stranger than the others. Like one of those crazy names some celebrities give their kids.

"That's what he calls himself," Drax said with a shrug, "honestly, he is kind of weird. He doesn't deserve all the hate he gets for it though. I'm glad he has a couple of friends he can talk to now."  
Drax covered a few more people, but Peter had reached the limit of what he could remember for now. They never did get back to their earlier conversation, but that was okay. Peter could probably bring it up again tomorrow.

\-----------------------------

Peter stopped by the grocery store after school to pick up a few things for dinner. His mom normally worked the night shift, but she'd switched shifts with a co-worker today to help them out. That meant she was going to be really tired when she got home. There wasn't much he could do about that, but he could at least make something for her to heat up later so she didn't have to cook for herself. Peter shifted the bags he was carrying around so he could dig for his house keys as he made it to his neighborhood.

"You in charge of cooking today, Peter?" his next door neighbor, Yondu, asked. He was in his garage working on one of his motorcycles. The guy had a criminal look about him, but he was actually pretty nice. He'd helped his mom out a couple of times and Peter knew he could go to him for help if he ever needed to.

"Yup," he answered, "want some once I'm done?"

"I think I will take you up on that offer if you don't mind."

"Not at all. Just give me about half an hour."

"I'll just be out here working."

Peter went inside and got started. He was only really capable of making a few things, but he'd gotten pretty good at them. It didn't take him too long to throw everything together. Once he was done, he divided it onto three plates. He wrapped one up immediately and went to find the post it notes. He'd probably be asleep by the time his mom got home so leaving her a message was the best he could do today. 'Hope work was okay. Love you.' Peter added a smiley face to then end of the message and stuck it on the cling wrap before throwing it in the fridge. Then, he took the other two plates outside. "Time to take a break," Peter called.

Yondu went inside to wash his hands and grab some drinks. Then the two of them sat outside on his porch and ate together. Peter asked him about his motorcycles and Yondu ended up asking about his school day. It was all well and good until Yondu asked him if he'd met any cute girls. He made the mistake of mentioning Gamora and was relentlessly teased for it. That's when Peter decided it was time to go wash dishes.

Once he finished that and the rest of his chores, Peter went back to his room and gave Tony a call.

"Hey, Pete," Tony answered, "how was your first day? Just like the movies? Did you get shoved in a locker or something?"

"Nope. I was a little late getting to school, but that was the worst thing that happened to me today."

"Hm. Weird. I guess that means you're just a side character."

"What? No way. I'm totally a main character."

"Nope. If you were, you would have definitely fucked something up."

"Point taken. How are things over there?"

"Boring. I wish I could go to Marvel High with you."

"You should ask your parents."

"Heh. Yeah, right. They'd freak if I asked them to send me to a public school."

"Tell them that you think learning how to interact with normal people could be beneficial to your future career or something. It's not like you need the 'better' education private school provides."

"Hm. That might actually work."

"And you didn't think of it. Are you sure you're a genius?"

"Yeah, well, sometimes it takes a simple person to come up with a simple solution."

"Whoa now! Uncalled--"

A sudden whirring noise preceded a loud crash and the ground shook. Peter immediately went over to the window and noticed that there was now a decent sized crater in his back yard.

"Peter? Is everything okay?" Tony asked.

"Yeah, um... I think a meteor just crashed in my back yard. I'll call you back, okay?" Peter didn't wait for Tony's response. He ended the call and went out back. At the center of the crater was a glittering green stone. That didn't make sense, right? Before thinking better of it, he went over to the stone and picked it up.

"Put it down, right now!" an unfamiliar voice came from above.

Peter looked up and saw a raccoon with an over sized gun trying to scramble over his fence. "Did you... just talk?" Peter asked, ignoring the gun for the time being. One issue at a time.

"Ugh. Yes. I did. Now put the infinity gem down or I'll shoot! Don't think I won't!"

"Yeah, sure," Peter said, "doing that now. Just... try to relax, alright?" He went to put the stone down as ordered, but before it touched the ground, it vanished in a puff of green smoke that seemed to enter Peter's body.

The raccoon slapped his forehead. "Fucking damn it!" he screeched, "this is exactly what I was trying to avoid."

"What's going on?" Peter asked desperately. Too many strange things were happening at once.

"Well, like it or not, you're an infinity gem guardian now."

Yeah... Peter was going to need a bit of an explanation.


	2. Chapter 2

"Peter? That you back there?" Yondu's voice came from the next yard. Peter's eyes widened in panic. He couldn't let Yondu see... whatever the hell was happening here. Luckily, the talking raccoon seemed to feel the same way as he responded by dropping back down into the yard behind Peter's house. "I heard a loud crash. Is everything alright?"

"Uh, yeah," Peter answered, "everything's fine. The backyard just got torn up by a small meteor or something."

"What? Seriously?" Yondu asked as he peeked over the fence. When he saw the crater for himself he let out a whistle. "Ooh boy. You are lucky that landed where it did."

"For sure. If it had hit the house... I don't even want to think about it. No way we'd be able to pay to get it fixed right now." Unless they asked his father for help. Personally, Peter would rather die than go to Ego.

"The house? You're worried about the house? Boy, you could have been hurt-- or worse! The house doesn't matter compared to you and if your momma was here right now she'd kick your ass for thinking otherwise."

"Right," Peter smiled, "thanks for setting me straight, Yondu."

"Anytime, kid. Anyway, my show is probably back on by now. I'm going to head back inside. You should consider doing the same."

"Will do."

Yondu nodded and then disappeared from view. As soon as he was gone, the raccoon's large gun was tossed over the fence. Peter flinched, half expecting it to go off. Luckily, it didn't and the raccoon scrambled over the fence shortly after to reclaim his weapon. "Right," the raccoon started, "now where were we?"

"Can we take this conversation inside?" Peter asked.

"Probably a good idea. Is your neighbor always that nosy?"

"I would have been peeking over fences too after hearing something like that. And Yondu's cool so don't be rude."

"Whatever you say," the raccoon said. Peter could swear the creature had rolled his eyes. "Any chance you have something I can eat?"

"Uh, probably? What do raccoons eat?"

"What's a raccoon?"

"N-nevermind," Peter stammered. He wasn't a raccoon then? That was a bit hard to believe. Yeah, he talked, stood on two legs, and probably came from space, but he definitely looked like a raccoon. Peter shook his head. He was overthinking this, wasn't he? Maybe human food was fine in this case. "I can scramble an egg for you or something."

"Hm. That's not particularly exciting, but I guess it'll do."

Peter kept his annoyance to himself as they headed inside. Once they made their way to the kitchen, the 'raccoon' tossed his gun on top of the dining table and jumped up onto one of the chairs. He was at an awkward height so Quill went and got a couple of his textbooks for his guest to sit on. That seemed to do the trick.

"So, what's your name, kid?" the creature asked as Peter started going through the fridge.

"Peter Quill," Peter responded, "what's yours?"

"Rocket."

"Alright. Nice to meet you, Rocket."

"I doubt you actually mean that," Rocket sighed, leaning back in the chair, "but even if you do, you'll regret meeting me soon enough. Your blissfully ignorant life is at an end now that you're an infinity gem guardian."

"Right," Peter cracked the egg into the frying pan, "and what exactly is an infinity gem guardian?"

"Simply put, someone that uses the power of their infinity gem to transform into a magical warrior and defend the galaxy from any big bad that decides to threaten it."

"H-hold on. Are we talking about the kind of big bads that you need that vastly oversized gun to take out?"

"Yup."

"I'm definitely not qualified for something like that!"

"Trust me, I'm aware. But the gem made its decision and you can't just give it back so there's not much point in moping about it."

"Wait. Its decision? As in, the gem decided itself?"

"Yeah... The infinity gems kind of have wills of their own. They tend to choose people nearby who desire their powers. You got the green one which means you are the current owner of the time gem."

"Does that mean I'm supposed to desire time? Because that doesn't sound right. I mean, don't get me wrong, having time related powers would be cool and all, but it's not the first power set I'd ask for."

"Huh," Rocket said, scratching his chin thoughtfully, "well, I guess it is the time gem. Maybe it's responding to a future desire? Anyway, it doesn't really matter why it chose you. The fact of the matter is that it did. And that makes you partially responsible for protecting the galaxy from any evil doer that decides to threaten it."

Peter wasn't sure he agreed that it didn't matter. Having a future desire for something related to time sounded pretty foreboding to him. Still, if he had the time gem that meant he could potentially do something about it, right? For now, Peter put the thought aside and focused on what Rocket was trying to tell him. "So, um, no chance we're currently living in a time of peace and there's no evil threat looming over us?"

Rocket snorted.

"Didn't think so," Peter sighed. He finished cooking the egg and took it over to Rocket. Once he'd set it down in front of him, Peter took a seat on the opposite side of the table.

"It's a bad time to be a guardian, kid," Rocket said, picking at his meal, "right now, we're up against the Black Order-- a group of lethal assholes that are trying to bring back the Mad Titan."

"Okay... And this Mad Titan guy is what? Like a 10 out of 10 douchebag?"

"Make it more like a 20 out of 10. The Mad Titan is the worst threat the universe has ever known," Rocket said, pointing his fork at Peter. After a second or two, he put it down and let out an annoyed sigh as he added, "but Terrans don't know anything about that which means I have to give you a bit of a history lesson, huh?"

"You aren't the only one bummed out by that."

"Well, let's just get it over with. I'll try to keep it short," Rocket said. "So, a looooong time ago, the Mad Titan got it in his head that he wanted the infinity gems for himself. Obviously, he wasn't the first person to come up with a hair-brained scheme like that, but he was the first person who actually had the power to do it. Him and his children assassinated the previous gem guardians one by one until only one was left-- the guardian of the soul gem, Groot. Groot knew that he didn't have a chance of defeating them on his own so he came up with a more... unorthodox plan. He used the soul gem to change their essence instead."

"Change their essence? What do you mean by that?"

"The way Groot described it to me... He made them forget, made them think that they were different people with different lives."

"The soul gem can do that?"

"It can do a lot of weird things. Honestly, I'd be lying if I told you I completely understood it. The other gems are more straightforward," Rocket said with a shrug, "anyway, once Groot did that, he was able to use the other gems to support that lie. The power gem boosted the potential of the other gems, allowing him to use the space gem to hide Thanos and his children on a new world, the time gem to hide them in a different time, the reality gem to give them a place to live, and the mind gem to integrate them into people's memories. That done, he left them to a life of peace and took the gems far away, to a remote planet where he protected the gems in isolation for centuries."

"Okay," Peter said, mulling over everything Rocket had just told him. It was a lot to take in, but he did believe what Rocket was telling him to some extent. Too many weird things had happened for him to dismiss all of this craziness completely. "Where's Groot now? If he's an actual guardian, shouldn't he be the one explaining all this to me? U-unless you're one too and--"

"I'm not a guardian. None of the gems ever responded to me, okay?" Rocket growled. Apparently, Peter had found a sore spot. He didn't have a lot of time to process that new bit of information though because the way Rocket's voice broke when he tried to continue caught Peter's attention. "And Groot..."

Peter could hazard a guess. "The Black Order?"

"Yeah," Rocket's ears flattened, "sending me away with the gems was probably the last thing he ever did."

"I'm sorry."

Rocket closed his eyes and took a deep breath. "Shit happens," he said, focusing on the plate in front of him, "I just... have to do right by him and help the next set of guardians however I can."

"You said there were six gems total?"

"Yeah, which means that there are potentially four other humans out there who just got an incredible amount of power."

"Four? But there are-- oh! Because Groot would have still had the soul gem."

Rocket nodded. "Which, of course, is the one that they need to restore the Mad Titan to his original self. If they figure out where he's been hidden before we're able to take them down..."

"I guess we'd better find the others fast then."

"You're willing to help?" Rocket asked curiously.

"Well, yeah. I'm just going to have to accept the situation eventually anyway since I can't give you the gem back, right? I might as well not waste our time," Peter replied. Honestly, the idea of being something akin to a superhero was kind of appealing in the first place-- as long as he didn't think too hard about actually having to fight the Black Order.

"Okay then. I can work with that," Rocket smiled, "now, as to how we find the others... The good news is that all of the gems should have all landed somewhere relatively close. I think it's safe to say they should all still be within the city's limits."

"It might be smart to keep an eye on the local news then-- see if they report anything about craters like the one currently in my backyard."

"That's a decent thought."

"Anything else we can work with?"

"Hmm... Well, it's just a hunch, but I think that the gems will be attracted to other people around your age, considering how emotionally charged teenagers can be."

Peter wondered if he should be offended. Still, anything that gave them a bit more direction was welcome at the moment. "So... you're basically saying that we should investigate the kids at my school first?"

"Yup. All we have to do is figure out who seems a little different from usual."

"T-that might be hard to do."

"Why's that?"

"Yesterday was my first day at a new school. I don't know what normal is for everyone yet." Then again, Drax and Gamora might be able to tell if something was off. Maybe he could ask them.

"Figures," Rocket groaned.

Just then, Peter's phone went off, surprising both him and Rocket. Once he worked his way through the shock, Peter pulled out his phone and saw that Tony was the one making the call. "Ah, shit. That's right," Peter exclaimed. He quickly apologized to Rocket and then marched into the hallway to answer the call. "Sorry, Tony. I got distracted."

"You're fine though? Nothing weird or life threatening happened?" Tony asked in a serious tone. Peter would have normally expected some kind of joke coming from Tony so this response came off as a little strange. Then again, he supposed Tony was allowed to be worried about him. They were friends, after all.

"No," Peter lied before thinking better of it. "Well, okay. The remnants of a meteor or something landed in my backyard so now there's a small crater there, but that's it."  
"That is both weird and life threatening, you know?" Tony grumbled.

"Yeah, but it's fine. Nothing ultimately happened." Except that now he had a talking raccoon in his kitchen. Oh, and that he was also in the real life equivalent to a magical girl anime. He couldn't tell Tony about either of those things though. Not until he had a better grasp on the situation, at least. "I just got a little shell shocked. That's all."

"Hm. I guess that's a reasonable response. You're sure you're okay?"

"Yes, Tony. I'm fine."

"Good."

"You were really that worried?"

"I'm hanging up now."

"What? You're embarrassed?" Peter asked teasingly.

"Oh, shut up. I'm allowed to be concerned about my friend. If a meteor crashed into my backyard, you'd be just as worried about me."

"Yeah, yeah. You're probably right. It's still adorable though. You totally love me."

"Don't get cocky," Tony replied in an amused tone, "you've got nothing on some of the girls in my math class."

"Oh yeah? If they're so special, why are you so eager to jump schools to be with me?"

"You think that's about you? Pfft. Didn't you know? I'm totally into... whatever the football team is called over there."

"The Avengers."

"Really? The Avengers? What kind of name is that for a high school sports team? And what does a mascot for that even look like?"

"It's some guy with a shield. I have no idea why."

"Wow. That's... weird."

"Eh. It's fine. It's not like I'm all that interested in the sports teams in the first place," Peter said with a shrug. His brain suddenly brought up Thor as a counter point. Peter immediately squashed that thought and added, "anyway, I should probably let you go. I've taken up enough of your time for today."

"Talk to you tomorrow?" Tony asked.

"Sure thing," Peter agreed, "night, Tony."

"Night, Pete."

Peter hit the button to end the call and then turned back towards the kitchen, almost tripping over Rocket in the process. Apparently, Rocket had followed Peter into the hallway at some point. "Whoa there!" Peter exclaimed, "could we maybe try not to sneak up on me like that next time? You almost gave me a heart attack, man."

"If you can't handle something like this, you definitely won't be able to handle the Black Order," Rocket said with a sigh, "anyway, you didn't say anything about the gems, right?"

"Of course not," Peter said, "Tony would think I was brain damaged if I brought something like that up."

"Good. This probably goes without saying, but we need to be very careful about who we mention the gems around. I wouldn't trust anyone besides me and the other guardians with that kind of thing."

"Right," Peter sighed, only now realizing he was going to have to keep all this from him mom. That was going to be difficult. "If you're going to be staying here, we can't let my mom see you."

"Ah, parents. Forgot about those. What a pain."

"Yeah, well, you're just going to have to deal with it. Count yourself lucky that my dad is currently out of the picture," Peter said, crossing his arms. "Mom usually works night shifts, which actually kind of works out for us if we need to sneak out at some point. She gets home early in the morning, stays up long enough to make sure I get to school, and then goes to sleep. You should have the house to yourself until school gets out. From then until she goes to work is when you have to be careful. And her days off, of course."

After giving Rocket a few more details, the two of them decided to call it a night with Rocket promising to teach Peter about his new powers in earnest tomorrow. That just left figuring out sleeping arrangements. After a brief discussion, they decided that the safest place for Rocket to sleep was under Peter's bed. It was probably a bit inhumane, but Rocket had assured Peter that he didn't mind and it was the easiest way to keep him from being immediately spotted by his mom. The gun was a bit harder to hide. It didn't quite fit under the bed so Peter had to make some room for it in the closet. 

"Okay. I think that's everything," Peter said after tucking a folded blanket under his bed for Rocket, "you good?"

"Yeah, I'm good."

"Then good night, I guess."

"Good night," Rocket said with a nod, "oh, and Peter... I know all of this is a mess. I'll do everything I can to teach you how to use your gem properly."

"Thanks, Rocket," Peter said.

"Yeah," Rocket replied. He looked like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. Instead, he chose to crawl under the bed. That was that then.  
Peter turned off the lights and then got into bed. He needed to rest, but it was hard to get to sleep. There were too many things going on right now, too many thoughts passing through his head. The Black Order, Rocket, his role as an infinity gem guardian, and, of course, school-- all of them kept him awake. 

Peter wondered if Rocket was faring any better than he was. He'd decided against asking Rocket if he was asleep when he started to hear a faint whimpering. Was Rocket having a bad dream? Considering what he'd been through, Peter wouldn't be surprised if Rocket was having a nightmare about the Black Order and what happened to his friend, Groot. Peter listened for awhile longer. When the whimpers didn't stop, he got up off his bed and scooped Rocket out from under it. Strangely, that seemed to calm Rocket down instantaneously.

"Just for tonight, okay?" Peter said quietly as he got back into his bed with Rocket wrapped snugly in his arms. Peter let out a yawn and closed his eyes. Having Rocket there had solved his problem too. With the fuzzy little alien creature sleeping next to him, Peter finally managed to doze off.

\-----------------------------

Peter groaned as his alarm clock blared, signaling that it was time to get up for school. He buried his face in his pillow and tried to ignore it. Just five more minutes. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?

"Come on, get up," Rocket said, nudging Peter's shoulder, "we've got work to do today."

Peter mumbled something in response, but even he didn't know what he was saying.

"You're Earth's first and last line of defense against the Black Order. At the very least, you need to be able to get out of bed."

He wasn't wrong. With considerable effort, Peter felt around for his clock and turned off the alarm before groggily getting to his feet. He then rubbed at his eyes as he made his way over to the closet. The gun they'd hidden in there almost dropped on him in the process.

"Careful!" Rocket exclaimed, jumping onto Peter's dresser, "if that goes off, you can say goodbye to your roof."

"Doesn't it have a safety or something?" Peter said, grabbing a clean pair of pants from the closet and then shoving the gun back into it.

"It does have one and it should work, but that gun is still an untested prototype. You shouldn't rely on--"

Rocket froze as the door to Peter's room suddenly opened. Meredith, now standing in the doorway with a confused look, asked, "were you talking to someone?"

"Huh? Oh, um, no," Peter said, "I was talking to myself actually."

"Hmmm," Meredith's eyes narrowed suspiciously, "is that so?"

"Well, yeah. I'm... kind of working on something."

"What kind of something?"

"A script."

"For school?"

It was probably too early to get away with an excuse like that. Besides, if his mom had overheard the word gun, she would know for sure that he was lying. "No," Peter said, "it's something I'm doing with Tony. It's just a stupid idea we had where we'd make videos to send to each other now and then. You know, since it's a little harder for us to hang out."

"Oh," Meredith frowned. Any suspicion on her face was immediately replaced by guilt. That wasn't the effect Peter had intended. As far as he was concerned, leaving Ego was 100% the right decision and it wasn't like it was that much harder to hang out with Tony. Sure, they weren't neighbors anymore, but it'd still take less than an hour for Peter to walk over to Tony's house. If he could get a ride, he could be there even faster.

"Mom, I didn't mean--"

During their conversation, Meredith's gaze had drifted towards the dresser where Rocket was still standing. He hadn't gotten a chance to hide. Meredith blinked and asked, "is that a taxadermied raccoon?"

"I-It is," Peter said, knowing he wasn't going to come up with a better excuse. "Yondu was cleaning out his garage the other day and was going to get rid of it. I asked him if I could have it instead." Peter hoped to god that his mom didn't ask Yondu about Rocket later.

"Why would you want a taxadermied raccoon?"

Peter shrugged. "I thought it was kind of cool."

Meredith's frown deepened. She clearly didn't like the idea of having a stuffed dead creature in her house. Still, for Peter's sake she just sighed and said, "I guess it's fine. Hurry up and finish getting dressed, alright?"

"Right," Peter said, relieved that his mom had turned to head out the door.

She stopped and looked back at Peter, "oh, and thanks for making dinner last night."

"Anything for you, mom," Peter smiled.

Meredith returned his smile with one of her own.

\-----------------------------

Peter was relieved when he finally got to dump his backpack on the floor of his homeroom class. He'd somehow let Rocket convince him to let him come. Of course, when he'd agreed to it, Peter hadn't considered how much a raccoon would weigh on top of his already heavy textbooks. Never again.

"Morning," Stephen said with a curt nod.

"Morning," Peter repeated, a little surprised that Stephen had been the one to greet him and not the other way around. As Stephen took his seat, Peter added, "I looked for you at lunch the other day, but I couldn't find you."

"That's probably because I ate outside."

"By yourself?"

"Yes. The cafeteria was too noisy."

"I guess that makes sense. But, you know, if you wanted to sit with me and a couple of friends I made the other day, I don't think they'd mind."

"...I'll consider it."

"Cool," Peter said excitedly. Was it just him or did Stephen seem more approachable today? Peter then remembered that he'd meant to take a look at Stephen's hands. Instead of hiding them the way he had yesterday, Stephen kept them in place on top of the desk. It was probably a little early to draw conclusions, but Peter's gut was telling him something was off. It was worth a shot, right? "Hey, um... this is going to sound weird, but did you find a strange gem the other night?"

Peter could practically feel Rocket panic inside his backpack.

Stephen just stared at Peter. Yeah, it was a dumb question. Peter was about to try and laugh it off when Stephen asked, "you too?"

Peter blinked. Had he really found another infinity gem guardian just like that?


End file.
